Slither
by matulaak77
Summary: This story takes place after Chapter 14 of The Blue Hunter and follows Victoria after she splits off from her two travelling companions. Opting to be the one to travel back to Beorf alone, Slither must find a way to save a captured ally in need of rescue and exit the fortified city alive.
1. Back to Beorf

This hadn't been the worst trip this hunter had ever undergone but Victoria certainly wasn't a happy woman. She was sitting on her bundled up cloak with her legs extended in front of her towards the small fire surrounded by rocks. Her mount was sleeping on her left where she had tied him to a large oak tree. It had been an exhausting four days. She hadn't wasted anytime since she had left Max and Chloe at The Golden Gauntlet all the way back in the City of Draqt. The hunter had ran all the way to the stable next to the tavern that held their horses and taken off in the night towards Beorf with as much speed as the tall black horse could muster. She had stopped only to rest the fatigued horse and catch a few hours of sleep before starting her mad rush once again. Victoria could feel the taxing journey catching up with her body but she tried her best to ignore it. Her legs were shaky and her whole body felt sore, it was taking longer and longer to recover from the constant hours on the horse's back.

She reached over with her left hand to her leather bag for some dried meat and bread and grimaced slightly when she dropped the wrapped up bundle. Her left hand hadn't been the same since she had lost her both her ring finger and little finger in the fight that had followed the trio's escape from Beorf. She had spent the last seven years known around the country as a top tier hunter. Much like the Blue Hunter herself, the amount of stories traveling by word of mouth from travelers and gleemen about Slither's accomplishments were impossible to count. Yet, the injury she had sustained would certainly have a strong impact on her effectiveness as a hunter. Even though she was still far better than even the best swordsmen using only her one hand holding a dagger, she felt like a shell of what she had once been. It had been hard to keep up the positive façade that she had put up in front of her fellow hunter and the witch. Now that she was alone, the dark thoughts were almost overwhelming. _"Bloody Raven Knight and his executioners. I'll get my revenge soon enough."_ The thought fueled her anger and she closed her injured hand in a three-fingered fist. _"Burn me! I'm a hunter. We adapt. I haven't been the first to be injured and I certainly won't be the last. Stop wallowing around in pity, focus on the mission at hand."_

She knew going into Beorf was as close to a suicide mission as you could find, that had been apparent to both Chloe and herself after the retelling of the man's story of the riots that had sprung up in the city. Kate's family had been killed because of the three of them and she was apparently being held captive under an interrogator's fist in the main castle. The young blonde knew nothing of the plans they had made, Kate herself had chosen to actively avoid hearing anything of the like in order to ensure their protection. _"She always thought of everyone else before herself. We should've found a way to get her to come along with us."_

Kate was human bait. Despite the fact that her whole family had been killed and that the young woman knew nothing, the lords had declared to everyone that she would be held and questioned. It was clear that they wanted to lure Max, Chloe and herself back to finish what they had started. To ensure that Prescott would have no resistance whatsoever going forward with his plans. The city was filled to the brim with soldiers from one of the High Lord Prescott's trusted lords and Bokeh was most likely prowling the city for signs of their arrival. The hunter had volunteered to be the one to enter the city while the other two women stayed put and concentrated on gathering a team and collecting much needed resources. Hearing the witch's protest after the blue-scarred hunter had suggested she go had only solidified her own decision. Those two had grown closer than she ever thought possible in so short a time. Victoria herself didn't have much to live for, hunting was all she had and her death would not be mourned by many. She had no family or lovers and few she could call friends. If only two of the three were to survive, she would gladly be the one to embrace death like an old friend.

Victoria looked to the dark sky above through bleary eyes as the sound of the crackling fire fed her drowsiness. She had made good time towards Beorf. The hunter was on the edge of the forest west of the city and two hours' slow ride would bring her right to the west gate. She had no idea what to expect. By now the riots would most likely all be extinguished and the lock down on the city had probably been lifted. The hunter hoped so anyways. She certainly didn't look forward to scaling one of the walls in the middle of the night if it came to that. Yawning and blinking her eyes quickly, she decided it was time to finish her meal and sleep. Tomorrow would no doubt be a very long day.

* * *

Victoria took her hood down as her black mount plodded along towards the base of the western gate of Beorf. To say she felt refreshed was a huge understatement. Finally grasping more than four hours of sleep and taking her time to ride over had energized the hunter to no end. She felt ready to cut down whatever obstacles would stand in her way. She looked up as the five guards standing on the wall took up their bows and prepared an arrow for quick shooting. The gaping hole that the trio had used to escape Beorf had remarkably already been fixed. The brick used was of a lighter shade however and it would serve as a constant reminder to the city of how much damage two hunters and one witch could cause when pressured.

"Halt!" The shout had come from the man in the middle of the five. Now that she was closer, she could spot the differences among them. Three soldiers were dressed in full silver armor with a brown colored insignia of a bear standing on two feet stamped on their two shoulders. They each had long swords attached in the sheath to their hips and wooden long bows. The contrast between them and the two city guards was astounding. In comparison, the guards looked like children playing dress up with their bronze cuirasses and short bows. _"Those must be the visiting lord's soldiers. They look like they know how to use those long swords and the man at The Golden Gauntlet said there were around ten dozen men, fighting my way in or out is going to have to be avoided if possible."_ The man signaled towards the gate and his two fellow soldiers made their way down. Victoria dismounted and stretched her limbs while feeling up her dagger and bow stealthily. She didn't want to fight but it was a comfort to know that she was prepared for any eventuality. The gate lifted and the two soldiers rounded the corner on either side of the gatekeeper. She recognized him from the night she had escaped Beorf, he was a scrawny fellow. She would peg him at sixty years of age and by the nervous look he gave the soldiers, she had no doubt that this visiting lord had taken the city by pure force.

"Full name, age, occupation, reason for visit and length of stay." Victoria was reminded of how glad she was to not be in the same position as the Blue Hunter. With that blue glowing scar, it would be impossible to stealthily enter a city without being named. Her own face was a mystery to all. She could go anywhere she wanted under any name she could make up.

"Megan Weaver. Twenty three. Traveler. Visiting my sick mother. A week at most." The gatekeeper wrote down all the information given and proceeded to look over her mount and her appearance. He wrote down some more and moved out of the way while gesturing inwards.

"Welcome to Beorf."

* * *

A long march across the city and towards her destination followed the welcome. Victoria had no real idea where to go initially and she had wandered around aimlessly while thinking up of a plan. The hunter had stayed inside the church during most of her month in the city but that was clearly out of the question. As far as inns went, she supposed she could've picked any random one to stay the night but she was in need of information that wouldn't be acquired in most places. What she needed would be found in a place for the lowest of folk, the kinds that stayed with an ear low to the ground and away from the law. About an hour into her fruitless stroll, Victoria had smirked at her idiocy and headed to the east side. She stopped to secure her horse next to a muscled black warhorse in the small stable attached to the inn. She opened the door to the Silver Sword and walked in.

She had been here only once before on Chloe's request on the day they had broken out of Beorf and she had taken a liking to the place. It was exactly what she was looking for. Letting the door close behind her, Victoria placed her right hand over her sheathed dagger and glared at the few patrons who hadn't looked away instantly. She made her way past a few tables and took notice of a drunken man sitting down in the corner at a table filled with empty mugs of ale who was staring her down without flinching away. He was a couple inches shy of six feet with a strong muscled build. The man wore hardened gray stained leather armor around his chest, arms and legs but had no visible weapons on his body. Short black hair donned his head, he had a mustache above his lips and his steady brown eyes looked to her in an unspoken challenge. Something about him felt off to the hunter, he looked like a man who had spent a lifetime as a soldier of sorts. He was clearly looking for a fight but he wasn't carrying any weapons. She dismissed the idea to face him quickly, a man who had the confidence to stare down another fighter while unarmed was somebody that had an ace up his sleeve. Arriving at the bar, Victoria looked to the innkeeper who was facing away from her. Like the drunken man, he had a strong posture and carried hard muscles from years of fighting. She had pried into his past the first time she had come into the Silver Sword and hadn't been surprised in the least to hear that he had been a mercenary for years. He looked the type.

"Frank." Victoria got his attention and the tall blond man turned towards her. His eyes widened and he made a show of slowly walking towards her in indifference.

"What the bloody hell are you doing back here? The whole city is filled with soldiers and everyone one of them is looking to cut off any of you three gals' head. Is Chloe with you?" Frank had leaned in and was whispering quickly while looking around to the patrons littering the tables. The hunter brought herself closer and responded in a soft tone.

"No. I told her and the witch to stay put where they are. I came back to save a friend of mine. Once I have her safe, I'm taking off to meet up with them again." Victoria gestured to a mug on a shelf behind his head. Frank took the hint and began fixing her a drink. It wasn't because the hunter was thirsty but rather because it would look less like she had come in simply to talk privately with the innkeeper. Once done, he handed it over and leaned in once again.

"Good. I was worried sick about her, where is she?" Victoria stared him down impassively.

"I'm not saying. Nothing personal Frank, I know how much she trusts you but if they get a hold of you…" Frank nodded. He understood and didn't press the issue.

"That's fine. I don't need to know any details, nobody holds their mouth closed under an interrogator's gaze anyways." That statement brought the hunter back to her mission and she lowered her voice even more.

"Frank, I need information. Very sensitive information concerning what the bloody hell took place after I left. I heard the whole sordid affair from a man who was spouting his mouth off about the whole Marsh debacle but I want confirmation from better sources." Frank ran his hand over his chin and let out a deep breath.

"Well, you know most of what happened but I'll try to fill in some blanks."

"Who is the lord that arrived? I've never seen his insignia before."

"The name's Lord Kessal. He's one of Prescott's lapdogs that hangs around the outskirts of Arcadia. He's got a lot of men backing him I hear. Probably a good three hundred soldiers back at his estates and that's excluding what he brought over here with him in Beorf."

"What about the interrogator? I need anything you got on him."

"He's a bloody shadow. Man's dressed in all black all the time and he's got a thin smooth black metal mask over his face. Nobody knows much about him but I heard from some guys that arrived from Arcadia that he's the High Lord's right hand man. If I have to guess, that's the man who's running this show. The Lord Kessal is smart for sure but Prescott would only trust his best man for taking over the city." The description fit well. The hunter had thought that Bokeh would be in the city and it looked like she'd been right. This mission had just gotten much harder.

"The eldest daughter of Richard Marsh, Kate, I was told she's being held in the main castle where the reigning lord presides." Frank nodded in confirmation. "Has she been seen since? I need to make sure she's alive before I try anything, it'll do me no good if I walk into an ambush and find out she's been dead for a week."

"She's been seen as recently as two days past." He hesitated. "She's not in good health. I think they only paraded her around to make sure word got around that she was still alive. I figure they wanted to lure you all back here and this was their way of proving she wasn't just dead." Victoria's hand shuddered from the force of the grip she was applying to the mug. The hunter's blood ran cold and she felt anger bubbling at the surface.

"What have they done to her?" Her voice came out with venom and Frank looked to her in sympathy.

"It's no secret that they've been interrogating her for days. Anyone who walks by the castle can hear her screaming most of the night. The men I spoke to said she looked like she'd been put through hell itself. She has big bruises and long cuts all over, said her face looked like someone had smashed it in a pile of glass shards." The drop falling on her hand made the hunter look down. She blinked hard to get rid of the stinging in her eyes and she swallowed loudly.

"A… Anything else important that I should know?" It didn't come out as steady as she would've wished.

"They got five executioners too but they're inside the castle with the lords. You need to be very careful around here. I know that nobody has seen your face but all it takes is one soldier to wonder why you're hanging around the castle. They're absolutely ruthless. They killed many and beat even more when the riots picked up and the people rebelled. They put a stop to it with force and most've given up hope. You won't get any help from anyone living in Beorf, most'll just sell you out for favors with the lords. Don't. Trust. Anyone." Frank reached below the bar and grabbed onto a key that he slid towards her. "It's for the same room that Chloe was occupying a while back. You know where it's at. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I want those bastards to pay for they've done to my city." Victoria grabbed onto the key and got up slowly. Nobody payed her any mind as she made her way towards the staircase leading to the rooms above.


	2. In Need Of Rescue

Darkness had fallen over the sky above Beorf a few hours past. The moon's light was denied access by the many clouds overlooking the large city. Slither used that to her advantage like she had done so many times before. Out of all hunters currently alive, she was known among the stealthiest. In the night, she excelled at closing the distance between herself and her targets before they could even notice she had been there. The hunter had been called a master of the shadows, a name that had only become more prevalent when she had started using her _ink clouds._ Touching her belt with the tip of her fingers, Slither could feel the four round leather balls that were her very own portable cover. It had come in handy many times to save herself or to provide a way to descend upon targets without being spotted. She hoped she wouldn't need to use any tonight, with such a small quantity remaining and no way of restocking them, it was imperative that she only use them when absolutely necessary. The rooftops nearest the castle were mostly one or two stories high and didn't provide much in terms of scouting the enemy but it would have to do. Leaping when a soldier turned his head, Slither landed with a soft _thump_ onto the roof that would offer the best vantage point of the main castle. From here, it was possible to look over its base and see all the men patrolling its outside. _"Where are you Kate?"_

Slither spent the next hour on the rooftop laying still as a corpse and memorizing what she could. She had counted twelve soldiers, two guards and two executioners stationed at various entrances and patrolling the grounds. She committed their routines to memory, it would be useful later to know when the guards would change and at what intervals. Flexing her legs to get the blood flowing, the hunter silently made her way off the roof and into the street. The oil lamps hung around were keeping the area from collapsing into total darkness. This made her smirk in amusement. Far too many people didn't fully understand how to use light as a scouting tool. When a path was lit up, guards would look to it instinctively for wanderers or intruders and miss the real threat slipping by in the corner of their eyes. A good sentry wouldn't look towards the lamps but rather away from them and towards the shadows all the while relying on their peripheral vision to warn them of any person breaching the lit up space. Slipping into the dark patch around the corner of a store, she moved in obscurity towards the lord's residence. It took the better part of an hour for the hunter to investigate the perimeter and the walls more closely. Most of the underground rooms of the castle had small barred windows near her feet where she could peek in and take a small look inside. Thankfully, she only had to meld with the ground a few times to avoid being spotted by the men on patrol. The search for Kate had been unsuccessful so far and the hunter was feeling the frustration bubble up to her core _. "They must be keeping her on the highest floor."_

Hearing a small scratching noise, Slither put her back to the wall and slipped the dagger on her right hip free of its sheath in one quiet move. The hunter strained her ears to pick up the odd noise and she held her breath when it happened once again. The scratching didn't have any rhythm to it and she immediately dismissed the thought that it could be an animal. If anything, she thought that it sounded like someone dragging a rock on a hard surface. It went on for a half minute before she felt comfortable enough to breathe out and make her way towards the eerie noise. The hunter closed in on the odd sound by shuffling against the wall for a good ten paces towards her left. Suddenly the tiny commotion stopped and the hunter bent down near a small rectangular hole in the wall at ground level. It was much smaller than the other openings she had come across and was roughly a foot tall and two feet long with four thick bars that connected the top and bottom vertically. _"A cell."_ She smiled to herself. _"Kate?"_ The sound of a thick heavy door creaking open startled the hunter and she lost her balance as she fell to her knees in the soft grass. She heard the sound of a wooden object being slid on the hard floor roughly and then the door closing once again. A few moments passed and she heard the sound of faint footsteps moving away. The silence was broken by the loud sound of an object being thrown hard at the wooden door and bouncing a few times on the floor until it settled. Slither went on her belly and looked with one eye inside the dark cell. It contained a figure dressed in a dirty white dress who stood staring forward towards the spot where her projectile had hit the door. There were bits of meat and vegetables littered on the floor around the door and the bowl she had thrown had cracked in two. Kate looked terrible. The hunter couldn't see her face but her arms and legs were covered by dozens of deep lacerations and large bruises. Dried blood that hadn't been washed away covered her clothing and stained it brown. Her posture was sagging and she was heavily favoring her left side.

"I've warned you that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated." A steady male voice spoke from a bit further down the cell and she spotted the man's eyes in a slit in the door. "Either you eat what is provided or I'll force it down your throat."

"What does it matter if I eat your bloody scraps?" Kate's voice sounded cold… Much colder than the hunter remembered.

"We need you alive. I'll send for another bowl but rest assured that another incident like this will be met with fierce consequences."

"What can you threaten me with that he hasn't done tenfold? Neither of you need me anymore. It's _bloody_ clear that nobody is coming for me and he already knows that I don't have any _bloody_ information on their whereabouts. Just let me join my family." Kate's voice shook with strain.

"I agree that you have nothing to offer and I would love nothing more than to leave and go back to my estates but it's not up to me. He gets to decide when the questioning stop." The man's voice was dismissive, as if talking to a petulant child. "And do not talk to me as if you have say in the matter, you seem to forget that it is your fault that you stand in this cell. YOU chose to help hide a witch from the law. YOU chose to aid her and the hunters to kill the High Lord's men. This is on YOU!" His voice was growing louder with every punctuation.

"THEN WHY MURDER MY FAMILY?! THEY DID NOTHING! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY JUSTIFY KILLING MY SISTERS, MY MOTHER, MY AUN…" Kate's shouts were cut off when the door opened with force and the man punched her hard on the right side of her face with his left fist. Kate fell to the ground with force and she struggled to her hands and knees before the man kicked her hard in the stomach with his boot. With a groan of pain, Kate stayed curled on the ground for a few moments with a small pool of blood forming next her face where blood was escaping her lips. The hunter could now see Kate fully and she resisted the urge to storm the castle by her lonesome. The woman's face was filled with cuts and fading bruises. Coughing up a bit more blood, Kate slowly got back to her feet and she turned to face the man who was fuming with rage.

"YOU WILL NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THIS. I AM A LORD AND I WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH!"

"YOU BETTER HOPE HE KILLS ME BECAUSE IF I EVER ESCAPE I'M GOING TO HUNT YOU ALL DOWN ONE AFTER ANOTHER FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME AND MY FAMILY! PRESCOTT, YOU AND THE WHOLE LOT OF HIS ALLIES! I'LL MAKE YOU ALL BEG FOR DEATH AT MY HAND!" Kate lashed out furiously with her fist and the man shoved her roughly back down to the ground in the corner of the small room. The man spun on his heels and slammed the door shut behind him, the clicking of a lock echoed shorty after.

Victoria was frozen with her eyes widened in shock. She'd never seen Kate so enraged. She'd been the nicest woman the hunter had ever met and she had never seen her so much as lift a single finger to harm any creature. _"What have they done to you?"_ The soft cries of the woman in the corner of the cell made her blood boil. _"I'll kill them all for this!"_ She wanted to reach out and comfort Kate desperately, to tell her that she was here to help and to wait another few days. _"I'm so sorry Kate. I can't let you know I'm here yet. If I do, I risk you telling them when under the question."_ Grimacing and tightening her hands into fists, the hunter stood up quietly and started to sneak past the sentries and back towards path that lead to the inn. _"I'll get you out of this city and back to Max if it's the last thing I do."_

* * *

Kicking the Silver Sword's door open in a loud bang, Victoria made her way past the empty tables and towards the bar. _"I need a bloody drink!"_ The inn was deserted of all patrons with the exception of the drunken man she had seen yesterday. He was passed out at the same table he had been attending the night before with a good half dozen empty mugs obscuring his face from her view. Paying him no mind she slammed her three fingered fist hard onto the wooden bar and shouted for Frank. The innkeeper ran down the stairs and into the main floor holding two short swords with a look of alert. His large dog had jumped onto the top of the bar and was growling with ferocity while staring at her with glowing red eyes. His teeth were bared in a snarl and he looked about to attack.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Seeing no urgent situation requiring his help, Frank glared at Victoria. "Explain yourself!" He pointed the short sword's tip towards the hunter before whistling in a high pitch towards the dog. The dog instantly stopped growling and hopped down to make his way towards his master.

"His eyes!" Victoria was still stunned and she pointed to the dog in disbelief with her right hand. "What was that?" She approached the dog and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Probably just saw the reflection of something." Frank scratched at the dog's head and dropped his swords on one of the tables near him. "Now tell me why you rammed my door in with your bloody foot." Victoria shook her head to clear it and looked to the ex-mercenary with anger.

"I found her." The hunter started pacing in a circle while talking, a few tears escaped her eyes. "The things they do to her… I saw the bloody lord beat her senseless and I couldn't do anything to help! I couldn't even tell her I was bloody here!" Victoria needed to smash something, to let some of the anger and frustration out. She kicked at a chair with the sole of her boot and it crashed down a few meters always in a clatter of noise. Squaring up to another, she lifted her foot and felt a strong hand clamp down on her shoulder and spin her around.

"Calm yourself alright?! Tearing my inn apart isn't going to help the situation any!" Frank moved to behind the bar and grabbed at a couple of mugs to fill up. "Now come here and sit down." Victoria went back to the chair she kicked and picked it up gingerly. Her emotions were all over the place right now. The hunter placed the chair back where it had been and made her way to the bar to take a seat. "That's better. Here." Victoria reached out and forced herself to drink the whole of it before putting it down. She slid it back and gestured for another. "Now what did you find out beside how she's doing? Where's the room located? Is it accessible by the outside or does it require entering the castle? Patrols…? Guards…?" Victoria took a couple minutes before responding to finish another two full mugs and collect her thoughts. She wanted to drown the emotions away and she only spoke up when she felt the familiar buzzing feeling creeping up.

"Twelve soldiers, two of Beorf's own guards and two executioners are around the perimeter. The two executioners wander around randomly but the soldiers themselves are posted at the doors and do scripted patrols. They aren't vigilant, I only really had to take care not to be seen around the two in crimson armor. The room's underground but there's a small barred opening that lets you see inside. The door was wooden, maybe maple? It was heavy, that I'm sure of. I don't think it's possible to break in from the outside, we would need a strong battering ram or a tinkerer's device to break a hole through and even then it would cause too much noise. I think sneaking in is the only option I have." Victoria let her forehead drop onto the bar. "I don't know how I'm going to do this Frank. It's a bloody fortress and I have no backup. I can't kill them all by myself, there's just too many and if they get alerted then I'll lose the only advantage I have. If I sneak in undetected then I have the same problem on the way out and I'll have face all the enemies when I progress to the exit while trying to protect Kate at the same time." She slammed her head lightly on the wood and took in a deep breath. "Frank… Do you see anything I don't?" She heard a strong exhale.

"I know someone who's really amazing at figuring out puzzles. We could contact her and explain the situation. She might have a different approach in my mind or even something to help us out. She's no tinkerer but what I've seen, I'd say she's the closest we got."

"Can we trust her?" The hunter felt foolish at the question the moment it left her mouth but she left it to hang anyways.

"Of course. You think I'd mention her otherwise?"

The door to the inn opened in a creak and Victoria lifted her head to look over her shoulder. Her breath caught and she stared in shock at the crimson armored men who crossed its threshold. She felt Frank reach out and touch her arm as a warning. The two tall men wore long swords at their belt and bows on their backs. They moved a few feet in and closed the door behind them. The executioners stood a good ten paces away from the hunter.

"What are you two doing here at this time of night? The inn's closed."

"An inn that's closed at night?" The man on the left chuckled and it sounded a bit muffled through the helmet he wore, she could see his eyes squint through the slits.

"The bar stopped serving drinks a couple hours back and the inn itself is full. We have no rooms available so get out." The two men shifted a bit.

"We spotted someone leaving the reigning lord's castle grounds using the shadows to disguise themselves." The man on the right's eyes shifted to Victoria and she resisted the urge to reach for her weapon. She could feel fur sliding next to her left leg and a very low growl coming from the dog.

"Following the figure was really easy actually. They didn't seem to be paying much attention to their surroundings on the way back to where they came from." The man who was staring at her had a lower voice that reverberated slightly in his helmet.

"What the bloody hell does that have to do with me?" Frank seemed to be getting a bit more defensive and he moved from behind the counter to stand next to Victoria. The eyes of the man on the right flicked quickly to the two short swords on the table nearby and back to her. It happened so quickly that she didn't think she would've noticed if she hadn't been looking for it.

"We tracked her to this inn." The man on the left turned his helmet towards her and his arm moved very slightly towards his sword. The tension in the room was palpable.

"So I'm not allowed to go for a stroll in the dark? Last I checked, even the castle grounds aren't forbidden to anyone." Victoria spoke up and got off the stool to lean her left side on the bar.

"You're right of course. But it turns out we've been awaiting some visitors that were supposed to come by the castle soon. We were told to escort them to the High Lord's advisor if we spotted them."

"What if I refuse? I have better things to do with my time." That sentence made the two armored men step forward a foot.

"Then we would have to use force. If you really have nothing to hide then I suggest coming along with us and you should be free to go in a few hours." The left man nonchalantly moved his hand to rest on the pommel of his sword. Frank whistled sharply and the dog that had been growling next to Victoria's legs came to stand in front of his master. His eyes were once again glowing red and his teeth were bared with ferocity. Victoria pulled her dagger out and held it in her hand.

"She's not going anywhere with you." Frank calmly reached over to the table and grabbed his two short swords. The man on the right let out a loud laugh that redoubled in strength when the other executioner joined him. A moment passed and the two men slid their swords out of the sheathes at their hips and held them with the point digging into the wooden floor.

"Is that dog supposed to scare us?" The loud noise of a chair scraping slowly against the floor made every head in the inn turn to its source. The man who had been passed out in the corner was now standing up and looking over the scene in front of him. He stood with his back straight and passed a hand to brush through his short black hair. He rolled his shoulders and strode towards the door in his hardened gray stained leather armor. Nobody moved to stop him and Victoria once again felt that feeling of danger emanating from the stranger. Reaching the door, the man moved his hand towards the handle and past it. Victoria furrowed her brow as she saw him lift the heavy wooden plank that had been leaning on the wall and gently set it across the door on its holders to effectively lock it.

"What are you doing man? Get out! This is official business on behalf of Lord Kessal." The executioner on the right looked him over with annoyance, emboldened by the stranger's visible lack of weapons. Frank's eyes were moving between everyone quickly. Victoria guessed that he had come to the same conclusion that she had come to the day before. The executioners both lifted their sword towards the man when he stepped forward to within three paces.

"I don't like your kind." His voice was gruff and cold as ice. He moved in closer once again until the point of one the swords was only inches from his face. "You stand behind the lines and let the others do the fighting for you because you're too scared to face men like me."

"Back off!" The stranger didn't react to the command.

"I've been looking for an opportunity like this since I last saw your precious Raven Knight. But this time it's different… I don't see any witches here to even the odds in your favor. Do you?" To everyone in the inn's bewilderment, in a matter of seconds the man's skin had faded into dark green scales. Victoria could hear the somewhat metallic sound of the scales grinding together when the man made a fist. The two armored men reacted quickly, they both swung in tandem both high and low with their swords to connect with his chest and legs. Victoria flinched instinctively but the swords connected with a loud _clang_ and didn't seem to damage the man with scales. Without hesitation, the stranger swung his fist downwards hard at the executioner that had gone low and connected with a deafening _crunch_ to the top of his helmet. The helmet caved in a good four inches where the fist had struck and killed him instantly. The body crashed to the ground and Victoria stared in horror at the steady stream of blood and brain matter that poured from both the eye slits and the bottom of the deformed helmet. The man's head had been split open inside like a melon. The other executioner took the moment to run towards the door and had barely taken off the plank before he was grabbed and pulled away.

"Please…" The absolute terror in the man's voice made the hunter's stomach lurch.

"Coward." The man grabbed both sides of his helmet and Victoria looked away as she heard garbled scream followed by the strangled wet _crunch_. When she looked back, the executioner's body lay next to his fellow and his helmet had been squeezed in the middle vertically until it only had a few inches of thickness. It had handprints on both sides where the man had pressed and a massive amount of blood and a few chunks of brain surrounded the corpses. When the scaled man turned his steely gaze towards Frank and herself they both brought their weapons up and backed away a few feet, only Frank's dog stood his ground. "Sorry for the mess." He waved his hand towards the bodies and blood spattered on the wall from his grisly hands. He seemed to faze once again and the dark green scales disappeared to make way for white skin. Frank's short swords didn't move down the slightest bit. The man moved forward to a table and sat down on a chair with a grunt. "It looked like you could use some help diffusing the situation and I certainly wanted a piece of them."

"What are you?" The question slipped out the hunter's mouth.

"I'm a first tier _Impact_ of the royal guard. _"_ The man grunted and frowned. "Was." He breathed in loudly. "You can call me Madsen."


	3. A Strong Impact

"What do you think of him?" Victoria stood a good ten paces away inside the main floor of the Silver Sword. She was acutely aware of the movements of the man who had called himself Madsen. The hunter had heard of Impacts before but had never had the chance to meet one. Their kind tended to be snatched up at a young age by the royal family on the other side of the border and used as personal bodyguards. She'd heard stories that described them as anything from lizard people to monstrous shapeshifters, she could see where most would get that impression. Madsen was clearing up the two dead executioners' bodies by dumping them inside two large wooden barrels that had used to hold ale. Her stomach churned when one of the crimson swordsman's corpses didn't fit properly and Madsen's flesh turned to dark green scales in order to squeeze him in. The sound of bones cracking and flesh squishing made her gag. Frank seemed calmer, he didn't seem bothered by the actions of the stranger.

"I don't know Vic. I can believe him about being an Impact, that's a bloody given. But as far as whether or not we can trust him." Frank shrugged his shoulders as they both watched Madsen carry the large dripping barrels to the corner of the inn. Even without the bodies, it was impossible to miss that something had happened inside the Silver Sword. Blood and brain matter pooled near the door and spread a good three full paces in each direction. If she hadn't seen what had transpired earlier, the hunter would've bought that someone had been slaughtering and bleeding a herd of cattle right in the middle of the main floor. "He's been staying here for the last week and a half, he arrived around the same time as the new lord and his soldiers. I highly doubt that's a coincidence considering his apparent hatred for the Raven Knight's crimson killers. All he's been doing is drinking himself stupid every single night and glaring at anyone he could to instigate a fight. Nobody took him up on it however and after tonight, it sure looks as if that was the right call."

"If he wants to get back at the Raven Knight for any reason then I could use him. Think about how effective a man with his strength and armor could be to help break Kate out of the castle. I won't need to worry about protecting her or breaking her out if I have an Impact lending a hand. Hell… The man could punch his way right through the side of the wall and then we won't have to worry about getting in or back out." Victoria's mind was going a mile a second as she considered how to use the stranger's strengths to further her cause.

"He could playing us y'know?" Frank seemed deep in thought. "The Raven Knight is known for his strategic prowess and what better way to take everyone out then to infiltrate the enemy? I wouldn't put it past him to have two of his men killed simply to further his own plans. If we bring Madsen to Chloe and the witch and he turns out to have been with him…"

"I don't have another option as of now. He's the only safe way to get Kate out of that bloody castle without much trouble. What's your gut say about him?" the hunter inquired with interest.

"If you need an answer now… I believe he does really want to kill the Raven Knight and his executioners. There was fury in his eyes that I've only ever seen the likes of for soldiers that really despise the enemy. I think he could be an amazing asset on the field and a great help for whatever the lot of you are planning on doing against Prescott." Frank looked at her and added with a smirk. "Anyways, if the man wanted us dead… I really don't think either of us really stood a chance to stop him." The ex-mercenary's eyes flicked over to his dog that was eyeing the Impact from the top of the bar.

"Only one way to find out I suppose." Victoria walked over to the table where the Impact was sitting down. Madsen seemed lost in thought looking at his blood stained hands before she dragged the wooden chair across from him. He snapped to attention with a hard stare that made the hunter uncomfortable. She was well aware that short of dropping an ink bomb and running away, there was no chance she could survive a direct confrontation with this man. _"At least if he sees me coming."_ The hunter smiled at the thought and the man across from her seemed taken aback.

"What are you smiling about?" The man's voice was gruff and straight to the point.

"Just thinking that I could probably kill you quite easily if you didn't expect it. It looked like you had to concentrate on keeping that… armor out. So I have the suspicion that if I were to shoot you with an arrow from a few yards away in the night…" Victoria smiled wider at Madsen's furrowing brow.

"Telling me that you plan on killing me is probably not the best way to achieve that goal." His white skin turned a very light shade of green and seemed about to turn darker before Madsen visibly took a hold of himself. "Taking an Impact out of commission is a lot harder than most would believe." Frank took a seat at a chair a hand span away from the hunter's own table. Victoria couldn't help but notice that Frank hadn't brought his short swords along. _"Probably because it wouldn't do us any good."_

"I was just entertaining the thought, I'm a hunter and we tend to try and figure out on instinct the best method of killing people."

"So you're the hunter that the lords are looking for, Slither isn't it?" Victoria's eyes widened slightly in surprised and the man chuckled in amusement. "I hear things around the city. The soldiers are asking for any help identifying the witch and two hunters that've murdered a good couple dozen of the Raven's executioners. Since you aren't short with brown hair and you don't wear a glowing blue scar across the length of your face, that would name you as the third member of that party." He cracked a small smile. "I knew you were someone of interest the moment you stepped into the Silver Sword. Some people have that look about them, that tiny swagger of barely restrained confidence that they could take down any who cross their path. Hunters are the worst for it, I swear I could spot one of your kind out of a crowd filled with the boldest of mercenaries and soldiers." Madsen leaned on the table with his elbows pointed down and his hands held together. "The three of you have earned my respect for killing those crimson cowards. I've been trying to wait them out myself, I wanted to trail them when they finally left the city and follow them back to their leader."

"Why do you want to find him?" Victoria backed her face when the impact slammed his fists onto the hard wooden table.

"I want him dead." The hatred burning in his brown eyes evaporated any doubts remaining that she had about his truthfulness. Frank was right, this was a man on a hunt.

"Why?" Madsen snorted in derision at the hunter's one word question.

"What's it to you? My story is none of your business."

"I want to know who I'm getting involved with. Impacts are part of the royal guard, they don't stay at taverns across the border in a city that's a couple month's ride from the palace."

"Who says I want to get involved with you? I may have helped you with your little problem…" Madsen's eyes flickered to the two barrels in the corner of the inn. "But that was the extent of it. We go on our own way once our talk comes to an end." The hunter could feel her hope slipping away, she needed the man's help to save Kate.

"I can give you what you seek. You want a shot at the Raven Knight? I can give that to you." Victoria saw the man consider her words so she leaned in closer and pushed on. "I have a team that's planning on assassinating the High Lord Prescott and his entire group of close advisors and allies."

"The lord of Arcadia? I don't give a rat's ass about him, I want the Raven. The lord can keep ruling there until his natural death for all I care."

"The Raven is with Prescott. I injured him with a poisoned dagger when we escaped Beorf but he managed to get away, he's lying low in Arcadia. If he's even still alive, I guarantee you that you won't get within ten paces of the man without a team backing you and lending support. They have too many on their side and even you with all your strength won't be able to rampage through thousands of men to get at him. I can offer you that support." Madsen squinted his eyes slightly at the hunter.

"I don't see a team here, only you, a merc and his dog. If he's hiding out in Arcadia behind the protection of one of the most powerful men here then I'm sorry to say that you two and a mangy mutt don't inspire much confidence. Where are the rest of them?" Madsen inquired.

"I can't tell you that. However you have my word as a hunter that should you follow me and offer your services, I will get you the revenge you seek." The Impact seemed lost in deep thought for a moment before he spoke up.

"I want the Raven dead. Once I confirm his death, I walk away. I'll stay with your group until then but I have no interest in the politics on this side of the border."

"We can revisit that at a later date when the deed is done." Victoria smirked inwardly at the small victory.

"I can agree to that but don't hold your breath, I have unfinished business back at the palace." Victoria nodded in assent and moved the topic back to before it had gotten sidetracked.

"I need to know why you want the Raven Knight's death so bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm on board fully but if we're to be traveling together for a while then it's important to me to know everyone's motivations." The Impact grunted in acquiescence and ruffled his short black hair.

"I don't suppose it matters whether or not you know. I was part of a group of ten elite Impacts sent to protect and travel along with the queen's own niece. The niece had taken a fancy to the idea of travelling to Arcadia and exploring the lands underneath her aunt's kingdom for the last few years. Well, I was chosen along with nine others as the protectors and we set off as a group south across the line separating our two countries. We didn't even manage to make it more than three days into your lands before we were assaulted. I don't know how he knew where we were or why he wanted her, but the Raven himself ambushed us. I assume he wanted her for leverage of some sort." Victoria could see all too easily how holding a member of the royal family captive could open a world of possibilities for furthering Prescott's influence. "We had set up camp in the middle of the day and I was on watch duty. That's when I saw him and his crimson armored assassins a good fifty yards away on an overlooking hilltop. They must've been waiting for us. We had contingencies in place for something like this of course. Once the warning had been bellowed, we all _shifted_ and took up our stations. I was one of two that were tasked ensure the niece's survival, so we three fled to the forest while we let the rest take down the threat. The other Impacts charged towards the executioners on the hill but they never even came down to meet them in battle. Bloody cowards!" Madsen once again slammed his fist down onto the table and the blow made a mug that had been leaning by the edge of the table fall over. The hunter was so invested in the tale that she barely registered the noise of the mug meeting the floor in an eruption of shards. "There were four witches with them and my brothers were struck down by lightning, fire, acid, ruptures in the ground... too many to name. Impacts can take a lot of punishment, we're built that way. But magic… that's something we have no real way of fighting. I watched from the tree line as the crimson men and their master laughed while the four witches killed them all. Not a single one of the eight made it within twenty paces of the group. They came after us when the last body fell and it was clear there was nowhere to run that would allow us freedom. We both charged towards the group to give the woman time to flee and were struck down no more than three strides in. A ball of… shadows slammed into my friend's body and passed through him to collide into me, that's the only reason I'm still alive. I heard them run towards her but I could barely move a muscle to stand. It took me hours to manage the strength to twitch a single finger, whatever she struck us with was very powerful. Lethal too, my friend died on the spot from taking the brunt of the hit." Madsen seemed shaken by the tale, as if he were living through it a second time.

"So the Raven Knight took her captive? That means Prescott has her, we can help you rescue her when we storm him." The Impact's face fell slightly and he stared her down.

"She's dead." It was said with little to no emotion. "The queen's niece understood her duty just like we all did. When the last of her guard fell with me, she drank a vial of toxins that stopped her heart from beating. I could hear the Raven himself cursing at the witches to heal her before she slipped away into the abyss but it sounded like they had no clue how to manage it. The woman was a brave one up to the end, she knew she could be used as leverage against the throne."

"Why not go back to the palace? You said you were only three days across the lines and another couple weeks of travel by horse would've brought you to the doors."

"Because I want revenge, I want the Raven Knight to pay for her life with his own. I have failed the throne in my duty to protect the royal family. I may as well risk death trying to get to him, it would serve more purpose then execution." Victoria furrowed her bro in confusion and Madsen answered her unspoken question impassively. "When his corpse feeds the worms, I'll travel back to the queen to explain what happened. Then I will be beheaded for my failure." The hunter's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Don't go back then!"

"You folk from the south don't understand… I'm an Impact. I have managed to blunder the only task I live to uphold. When this is over, I will walk to the headsman's block myself and meet his blade with my neck with as much honor as I've left." Victoria was held speechless for a moment. _"The man is bloody insane!"_

"Well… Let's not worry about that right now." Madsen stood up slowly and rolled his shoulders.

"Let us leave this city then. We will meet with your group and take the fight to the Raven and his executioners." The metallic noise of scales grinding in his fist reached her ears and she noticed for the first time that he had shifted sometime during his tale.

"No." When the scaled man glared at her, Victoria managed to stop just short of flinching. "Not yet anyways. I need your help to save a friend held captive in the city."

"That wasn't a part of our verbal agreement."

"Well I'm making it part of the deal. I won't leave Beorf without her, it's my fault that she's in this situation and I refuse to let her suffer on my behalf." Madsen grunted in displeasure but seemed somewhat pacified.

"I can understand that, I really can but you know that this will trigger an all-out manhunt throughout the city. If we do this, we will need to leave or lay low quickly after we rescue her."

"With the both of us I think it should be feasible."

"The three of us." Frank's voice startled Victoria, the hunter had almost forgotten about his presence in the room. The man was looking to his short swords on the table behind her.

"I appreciate the offer Frank but it's out of the question." Victoria lifted her hand to silence his protest. "Think about it clearly, we might need somewhere to hide and if anyone identifies you then we won't be able to come here. Not to mention that you live here in Beorf, they'll burn down the inn and destroy all you've worked towards during your life."

"The hunter's right. It makes more sense to have you to fall back upon should we need it." Frank was displeased but he nodded his ascent nonetheless. "When do we get her out?"

"Tomorrow night. Let's meet in the morning to figure out the details." Victoria stood to make her way carefully past the pool of blood that had enveloped the floor and up towards the stairs. The hunter thought of the poor woman who she had seen mere hours earlier. _"I won't let you spend another night as a prisoner. Just hold on for one more day Kate, I'm almost there."_


	4. Breach And Clear

Victoria placed her three fingered hand in front of her mouth as she let slip a loud yawn. It was early in the morning and the hunter had caught only a few hours of restless sleep where her subconscious mind had sent nightmare after nightmare her way. Finally awoken by yet another bad dream involving her capture at the hands of Bokeh, the hunter had decided that her time would be better spent planning Kate's rescue in the common room of the Silver Sword. The creaking noise of the stairs behind Victoria alerted her to the presence of the Impact that was slowly making his way down. Madsen had cleaned himself up nicely, the blood stains that had permeated his hands and face were all gone. The man had also wiped down his gray stained leather armor to the best of his abilities, only a few dark spots were visible mainly around his sleeves. The hunter nodded towards the Impact who promptly made his way towards her table and let himself down onto the wooden chair opposing her in a rough manner. He ran a big hand through his short dark hair and covered his mouth to cover a loud yawn of his own. It seemed neither of them had managed to sleep undisturbed last night.

"So…" Madsen spoke softly despite the empty common room and motioned with a small gesture for the hunter to take up the conversation. It was clear that the royal guard was deferring to her command and that made the hunter smile inwardly. In her experience, soldiers above most others were reluctant or had problems following orders given by women but thankfully the Impact seemed to have no issues letting Victoria lead. _"No doubt a side effect of being raised in a matriarchy"_ she thought. _"We're going to get along just fine."_

"I've given some thought to how we could rescue Kate from the castle with the least amounts of confrontations. I've scouted the area surrounding it yesterday and there were no less than sixteen armed men patrolling or guarding the lords. They've lost two executioners and if we're lucky they haven't given it much thought as of why the pair still hasn't come back. Given that large amount just on the outside, I'm willing to err on the side of caution and say that the castle most likely has ten to fifteen soldiers posted inside and at least one of the three executioners still alive in Beorf. The talk in the city says that in order to reign in the city with force, they brought roughly one hundred and twenty soldiers so most will be around the gates or patrolling the streets. On top of that, I doubt they would let any of the city's own guards into the main castle. So…" She shifted slightly and looked over Madsen who seemed to be concentrating hard on committing all the information to memory. "By my best estimate we will face fourteen to sixteen soldiers patrolling the outside with two city guards posted at the doors. The inside will have ten to fifteen soldiers, three executioners, the reigning lord of Beorf, the lord sent by Prescott and possibly Bokeh." The last made her the most wary, it was imperative that Prescott's right hand man be nowhere near the castle when they stormed it. She didn't think she'd be able to fight him and win. As for the Impact, if he didn't see the black bolt coming, well… He'd die just as quickly as she would. Madsen waited until it was clear the hunter had no more to add and then he rubbed his thick mustache in thought as he spoke his mind.

"That's too many too handle." It wasn't said out of fear, the royal guard simply stated the obvious. "I can take down many by my lonesome, probably up to a couple dozen. But Impacts can rarely hold a _shift_ longer than a half hour before losing it, it takes a lot of energy to maintain and the more blows we absorb, the faster that energy drains. It's why we aren't always permanently in our other form. We'll make too much noise fighting our way in or breaking down the walls, it's obvious an alarm will be raised shorty after we enter and its likely more soldiers will come from the outskirts to aid in the main castle's defense. You simply can't handle that many by yourself and if the fight lasts too long then I'll be taken out of commission eventually. It would only be a matter of time. Not to mention that at first sighting of a rescue attempt, your friend's life would be in danger." Victoria nodded in ascent.

"I've thought of a way around it, it won't guarantee a victory by any means but it will certainly even the odds. It's also imperative that we get a hold of Kate before anything goes down, I won't risk her life until it's time to leave." Victoria scratched at her temple with her right hand absentmindedly. "My best idea is to sneak towards her cell and have Frank setup a distraction of sorts. He knows a lot of lowlifes in this city that'll do almost anything for coin, if we can attract the attention of the soldiers by the castle elsewhere then it would leave us to only worry about the men inside." Madsen grunted and shook his head.

"They aren't city guards, these are well trained men who don't care about the city or its people's wellbeing. There's no way they leave their posts short of a large massacre or rebellion happening which would be more than we can muster on short notice." Victoria scowled at that, she really needed a distraction for her plan to work but the Impact was making sense.

"We can work on the details later with Frank to see what exactly is possible but let's move on with the assumption that most men patrolling leave to go investigate." Madsen didn't seem happy with that assumption but he waved his hand lazily for the hunter to go on. "We'll go to the outside of the cell and that's where you do your thing and break down the wall. You can do that right?" Victoria realized suddenly that she wasn't actually sure of the limitations of Impacts.

"Yes." The man smiled and tightened his fist until his knuckles were white. "I can do that"

"Good. Then we'll break the wall down and you'll make sure nobody comes after us from the outside since that'll be our only way out. I'll slip into the cell and take care of any soldiers coming from the inside. Once clear, we'll head off into the night before any backup arrives and go to the Silver Sword."

"That simple hmmm?" Madsen seemed very apprehensive of the plan she had laid out in front of him and the hunter supposed he had more than enough reason to feel that way. She herself didn't feel much confidence in their ability to pull this off. It would hinge ultimately on the belief that they could make half the enemy leave their posts as well as betting on the fact that there were no more than a good dozen men inside. It would be risky. Victoria hesitated and looked directly at the man's hard eyes.

"I need you to promise me something. If I go down for any reason and you can see no safe way to save both Kate and I… I want you protect Kate at all costs and leave me behind." To his credit, Madsen barely reacted. An experienced man like him understood that sometimes it was necessary to leave someone behind.

"You have my word." Victoria looked torn with indecision but she decided that she needed to trust the man in front of her. If the hunter died, it was imperative that Kate find her way to Max.

"I'm supposed to meet the Blue Hunter and the witch at the City of Frauy in roughly two weeks' time. Take her there if anything happens to me and explain to them your motivations for joining us. They'll keep up my end of the bargain, you'll get your shot at the Raven regardless of what happens." Madsen nodded somberly.

"Hopefully it won't come to that."

* * *

Slither made her way back onto the rooftop that had offered her the best vantage point of the castle only yesterday night. She looked behind her to see the large man obscured in the shadow of a store a few paces down and behind. The hunter had been pleasantly surprised to see that Madsen could easily make his way around undetected. At first she had been worried of being spotted early because of her newfound ally. Most armored men she had run into that were accustomed to close range combat with swords or blunt objects seemed to ignore the element of surprise all too often and therefore never really learned how to be stealthy. The Impact waited until she signaled with her left hand and he ran the few paces needed to bring himself back into darkness' embrace at the base of her own building. _"Now it's just a matter of waiting. C'mon Frank, I need you to pull through on this one…"_

The seconds trickled into minutes and the minutes into an hour as the pair of intruders stood still. Neither made a sound or moved in the slightest bit, it was essential that they were not spotted. A sudden yell escaped one of the two city guards posted at the castle's door as they both pointed to the sky where pillars of smoke rose in the distance. This had been Frank's suggestion, he had argued against using any men to cause a distraction for fear of having them put under Bokeh's knives if captured. The mercenary had made a great point that if caught, the men used would be all too happy to give them up to escape the man's tools. That would lead to losing the element of surprise and risking Kate's life as well as destroying any chance of Frank staying a silent ally. The smoke grew thicker and the hunter could see small flames licking the rooftops of the nobles' personal houses further away into the city's depth. _"Please…"_ Frank had volunteered himself to set fire to four of Beorf's most powerful men's houses. He seemed under the impression that this could be enough to have the men ordered away to help stop the spread and damage caused by the blaze. The two city guards had moved forward and were getting ready to depart while yelling for assistance but to the hunter's displeasure not a single soldier moved. Victoria snuffed out her last ember of hope as she heard the groups of soldiers yell back to the guards to stay where they were. It seemed Madsen was right after all, they didn't care about the city or its inhabitants.

"What the bloody hell are you still standing around here for?!" The front door of the castle slammed open and rammed one of the guards in the side as a large figure dressed in white nightwear shouted towards the soldiers. "One of my houses is on fire and my city is about to burn to the ground! I'll need every available man to help pass buckets from the main well!" When not a single soldier replied or made to move, the man's voice grew louder and higher in pitch. "I rule this city in the High Lord Prescott's name and to refuse a direct order given by me, is to defy the High Lord Himself." That got a small reaction from the dozen soldiers who had now all grouped up at the front to see what the commotion was. "Despite what you may believe, your lord does not outrank me! If you men don't follow me right now, then I swear on my mother's life that I'll hang the lot of you in the morning for disobeying a direct order." The reigning lord of Beorf moved in haste towards the pillars of smoke without looking back. The two guards that had been standing by the doors were all too happy to rush to his side while the rest of the soldiers visibly hesitated. Most were looking around the castle's grounds and they finally resigned themselves to leave the castle's exterior unguarded as they all ran to catch up to the lord. _"I can't believe that worked… Frank, you bloody genius!"_

The hunter let a loud exhale pierce the silence and she heard the Impact let out a sigh of relief of his own. Letting herself drop onto the floor, Victoria gestured to the man and they both took off running towards the darker part of the castle's walls. Once they arrived, the hunter unsheathed her dagger and laid herself flat to the ground. She steadied her breathing and looked over to where the Impact had been mere moments earlier. Her eyes widened as she scanned the area for the man who was nowhere to be seen. Victoria counted to one hundred in her head and listened intently for any noise until she felt satisfied that no soldier had spotted them. It was a precaution she had insisted they take in case the group decided to leave a few men behind. Victoria stood up slowly and recognized foreign movement in the shadows right in front of her. She reflexively jabbed her dagger upwards towards the attacker's throat and felt her hand bend at an awkward angle when the blade connected with the Impact's scales with a metallic sound. Cursing under her breath and breathing somewhat uneven from the small jolt of adrenaline, the hunter moved her hand forward in the pitch black shadows until it connected against the man's leather chest piece. The hunter was shocked that she couldn't even see him, the dark green scales that had replaced his pale skin had hidden him in the darkness as well as any ink cloud she possessed could have.

"I… apologize. I didn't think you were anywhere near me… Reflexes took over." She heard the man chuckle in amusement and he shifted back to his normal skin tone.

"No damage done. Let's move on to our plan quickly, time is of the essence." Victoria followed the wall of the castle until she heard the familiar scrape of a rock on a hard surface that announced Kate's presence. Making her way closer to the source of the noise, Victoria bent down next to the barred rectangular window and looked inside the dark cell that was illuminated simply by the small amount of light escaping through the slit in the door. _"This is it."_ The hunter could feel her heart beating through her chest, whether her plan worked or failed would rely heavily on the next few moments.

"Kate." The sound of her own voice coming out louder in the silent night made Victoria extremely uncomfortable and she lowered the pitch of her voice. "Kate, are you in here?" She heard shuffling in the corner of the right cell and a short figure dressed in a dirty white dress made eye contact with her through the cell's small window. The hunter couldn't help but smile at the disbelieving look on her friend's face.

"Vic..? You guys came back for me?" The pitying way in which her voice came out made the hunter flinch slightly. Kate really hadn't believed that anyone was coming for her, that the group would let her rot in the hands of a torturous madman.

"Of course, I am so bloody sorry that I couldn't make it back here any sooner Kate. We had no idea until we reached Draqt and I rushed over as soon as I heard the news." Kate smiled warmly but Victoria couldn't help but cringe inwardly at the contrast formed against the numerous fresh scars that donned the short blonde's face.

"At least you came back for me." Tears started to form at the corners of Kate's hazel eyes. "I had lost hope. They killed my family…" The hunter heard a gruff voice behind her.

"I'm sorry, really, but this isn't the time for this. We only have a short window where the soldiers are occupied. You'll have to catch up with each other some other time when it's safe." Kate backed a few steps in fear and tripped over her own legs which caused her to fall hard onto the floor.

"Kate. It's alright, he's with me. He won't hurt you." When the short blonde didn't respond, Victoria sighed. "Just trust me on this alright? I couldn't break you out alone."

"Alone? Where are Max and Chloe?"

"I told them to stay behind. This whole city is a trap Kate, you're the bait. I couldn't let them risk their lives on the off chance that you still lived." Kate's eyes squinted slightly in renewed vigor and she stood up straight.

"I know. You did the right thing." She moved closer to the opening once again. "I would've understood if you had left me behind, there were more important things at stake. But… thank you for coming back. I hope it turns out to be the right decision."

"As I'm pressed to once again reiterate… We only have a short wind…" Victoria scowled in annoyance and Kate let out a small laugh at the hunter's expression.

"We got it." Victoria motioned for the short blonde to back away. "Get ready Kate. This'll be loud and it'll attract attention. Once Madsen breaks down the wall, I'll jump in with you and cover the door while he protects the outside. Stay behind me at all costs." The hunter turned to look at her companion. "Madsen?"

"Ready on your go ahead." Kate looked utterly confused.

"How do you expect him to break down the wall? I don't see a battering ram anywhere." Madsen just smiled and cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Victoria backed away herself and pointed ahead.

"Do it." The Impact shifted and his body became covered in the dark green metallic scales she had seen earlier. He closed his fists and she heard the familiar grinding noise that accompanied it. Kate had her back flat against the wall and she looked completely terrified at the imposing creature standing in front of her. _"Probably should've given her a warning of sorts."_ Madsen rolled his shoulders and gripped onto the metal bars that blocked the window. The hunter had thought the noise would be loud… It was much louder than what she could have anticipated. The high pitched wail of the metal bending and being ripped out of the wall sounded as loud as a small explosion in the silent night. Madsen threw the rubble to the side and started to make the opening wider. He stood back and leaned into a strong punch right into the center of the wall, the fist ripped through the heavy brick wall like a metal battering ram being swung into a wooden fence. The loud sound rippled in the air and the hunter started to hear voices shouting from the inside. "Hurry up!" Madsen grunted but did as ordered, he started to swing both fists in quick jabs that each took large chunks out of the cell's wall. Within a few moments, the wall was parted by a gaping hole that offered easy access to the inside of the cell. Victoria jumped down and motioned for Madsen to cover the outside, a needless gesture since the man had already turned and hidden himself close by to surprise any would be attackers making their way from the outside. The hunter rushed in and made her way to the short blonde who rammed into her with a strong hug.

"Thank you so much…" Victoria's attention was on the voice approaching the door and she separated herself roughly from the other woman.

"Behind me. Now!" Slither took out her dagger and stood poised for a direct attack on the first man to walk in. Sure enough, a tall soldier wearing the armor with the lord's sigil at his shoulders breached the enclosure and the hunter wasted no time in jabbing her dagger into his exposed throat. The man went down in a strangled shout and she moved out of the way to push him to the floor. _"Never be the first through the door, bloody idiot."_ Victoria removed her dagger as the soldier's body fell past her and she heard a startled cry from Kate who had to step back and dodge the man who had fallen to his hands and knees. Blood was leaking out from his wound and onto the floor as the soldier panicked and tried to cover his throat to stop the blood flow. Victoria kicked him hard in the head with the sole of her boot to take him fully out of commission. Kate reached for the man's sheathed short sword and held it shakily in front of her with the point towards the door where voices were growing louder.

Out on the other side of the wall, the hunter could hear the crunch of metal being bent and the bloodcurdling screams of soldiers who had run head first into the Impact. Victoria smirked, their backs were covered as well could be hoped for. Two men ran through the door to the cell followed by yet another pair and finally by the lord she had seen confronting Kate yesterday. Slither moved herself between the soldiers and Kate as they moved out of the doorway and further into the room. She dodged left to avoid a short sword's jab sent by a soldier and she came up with her dagger to pierce the man right into the side of the ribs. She ripped it out and quickly stuck it back into the man's gut just as a sword came down for her head. Throwing herself to the side, Victoria scrambled to her feet weaponless as the soldier she had injured flopped uselessly to the ground and laid still. The lord was geared up in silver polished armor that covered him from the neck down with his sigil of a bear covering his chest. He moved the few paces separating them and rammed the hunter with his shoulders to send her sprawling across the rough brick floor.

Her side throbbing at the impact, Victoria stood up quickly and ran the short distance to the soldiers heading towards Kate who was swinging wildly in front of her with the short sword she had acquired. Victoria kicked the first in the back of the right knee which made him stumble and fall with a cry of pain directly onto that same knee. She instantly turned to dodge a sword thrust that would have taken her straight through the back. Crying out in pain, she grabbed onto the blade of the sword with her left hand and pulled it past her with the other soldier's momentum. She felt the blade slit open her palm and felt the warmth of her own blood as it started seeping onto the hard cold metal. Her quick move payed off however as the sword thrust continued with speed past her body and managed to embed itself into the back of the soldier's neck that she had kicked down moments earlier. Gritting her teeth in pain, the hunter swung her bleeding left fist as hard as she could muster into the closest soldier's helmet. She heard her fist _crunch_ as it connected and felt the sensation of fire running up her hand and arm as her three remaining fingers all broke simultaneously. It stunned him for a moment and Victoria ignored the pain as best she could to use the momentary advantage to close the gap between them. She grabbed onto a fallen soldier's short sword and jammed it upwards as far as she could muster into his left eye slit. Before she could react, the last soldier threw his body into hers and she felt pain in her head as it whipped back and crashed hard into the wall behind her. Blinded momentarily because of the shock to her skull, Victoria grabbed onto whatever metal bits of armor she could and held it hard to her body. The man struggled as he tried to step back to use his sword properly but he didn't get the chance as her vision came back in spots and the hunter jammed her thumb of her right hand into the man's left eye. He screamed out in pain but she kept at it until she felt the warm fluids seep over her digit and the eyeball give way to her thumb as it went as deep as it could physically go. She removed her hand from the helmet once the man stopped struggling and she let him fall to the ground in a _clang_ of armor. She didn't know if he was dead or passed out from pain but right now it didn't matter.

A terrified cry made her turn around to spot the lord holding Kate by the neck with his left hand. Her back was pressed to the wall and her legs were kicking violently at anything she could reach but the lord's armor held strong and he turned his helmetless head to smile darkly towards the hunter. The distance between them was only a few paces but Victoria didn't dare move since the man had the sword's sharp point pressed into her friend's abdomen. A small trickle of blood was already making its way down the front of her white dress where her flesh was pierced by the metal.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN COME IN TO MY CITY AND DEFY ME?! KILL MY MEN AND ESCAPE WITH MY PRISONERS?!" The lord's bellow was crazed and he shook visibly with anger. Kate cried out once more as the man's shaking pushed the sword in a little deeper. "THE HIGH LORD CHOSE ME! OF ALL OTHERS, I WAS THE ONE CHOSEN FOR THIS TASK AND. I. WILL. NOT. FAIL. HIM!" He looked back to the woman he held and smiled with all his teeth, his eyes emanating intensity. "THAT IDIOT TOOK AWAY HALF MY MEN… HE'LL PAY FOR THAT! YOU'LL ALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE, OPPOSING THE LORD PRESCOTT? FOOLISH!" Victoria stepped closer slowly but the man's head whipped back towards her and Kate whimpered as he pressed the sword deeper. His smile made the hunter's stomach churn. "I'LL GO BACK TO ARCADIA AS A HERO." Victoria reached out with her right hand and screamed as the man tensed his arm and made to jam the sword all the way through. The movement never happened though as the lord was interrupted by the sharp thin rock that had been implanted into his left hand by way of Kate. The short blonde pushed him forward onto his knees as he took a second to process what happened and stuck the sharp rock once more into his flesh. He screamed out as the rock jutted from the base of his exposed collarbone and Kate hastily grabbed onto her fallen short sword. Victoria stood frozen as she watched the small woman ram the blade to the hilt straight down into the man an inch or so from where the rock was sticking out. His eyes widened in shock and he shook violently as blood started to escape the confines of the wound. Kate leaned in closer and stared venomously at the man who was at her mercy.

"Remember what I told you?" Her voice was cold and emotionless and she leaned into the short sword with her all her weight. The man coughed out some blood and his face paled as he let out a loud grunt of pain. "You should've killed me when you had the chance. This is for my family you sadistic prick!" Pulling the short sword out with all her strength, Kate repositioned it quickly and swung down hard. The lord's body collapsed to the ground as his head hit the floor and rolled quietly away until it stopped as it reached the body of a dead soldier. Victoria looked over her friend with wide eyes, she didn't know what to make of the changes that had befallen Kate during her imprisonment. _"A subject for another time."_

"We've got to go quickly Kate. I don't think Bokeh's here and I really don't want to run into more soldiers in the state I'm in." The hunter's head and shoulders were throbbing with an incessant dull pain. As for her hand, she looked down at the broken fingers that were jutting out in unnatural directions and her palm that was cut deeply and still bleeding. Her left hand was truly out of commission now and her whole left arm felt as if it'd been pierced with sharp needles. Kate looked to her with a blank look.

"I… I…" Kate looked down at the headless corpse at her feet. "The things they did." The woman shivered and felt at her scarred face with her free hand. She looked back to the hunter with a pleading look. "I had to Vic. I was so bloody tired of being a victim… That… It doesn't make me evil like him… Right?" Victoria walked closer and grabbed the other woman by the shoulder to look at her directly in the eyes.

"You did what you had to do to survive. Nobody can fault you for that. Chloe and I have killed countless people and I can't promise you they all deserved it Kate. Hell, even Max has her share of corpses following in her footsteps, do you think we're evil Kate?" The woman shook her head. "Then you have nothing to worry about. You want revenge? That's normal. I will never judge you for killing men that deserve it, now or ever." The hunter looked up to the hole in the wall and felt a spike of worry at the lack of noise emanating from it.

"Thank you." Victoria let a small smile slip and she motioned up to where she had been looking.

"We have to leave. Now!" Victoria struggled up to the hole with her one good hand and turned to see Kate slowly picking up a second short sword from the body of a fallen soldier. She looked back at the hunter.

"It could be useful later." Kate reached for the extended hand and joined the hunter in the darkness on the exterior of the castle's walls. They both gasped together at the sight in front of them. A good dozen bodies littered the grounds in a rough half circle with the hole at its center. It seemed Madsen had been very effective at keeping the lot of them out. Most bodies had caved in helmets where a fist had no doubt connected and limbs were scattered around aimlessly. Arms, legs and heads that had been separated from their owners lay in pools of dark liquid. One man in crimson armor had even been separated from the waist up and had most of his organs draped over the grass. It looked like a pack of wild beasts had ripped their way through the men. Victoria searched for Madsen with her eyes and found him sitting on the ground next to the wall leaning against it. He was bleeding from a very long cut in his side but ultimately seemed alright. He looked over to the two women.

"I couldn't hold it much longer and my shift gave way when there was only two left. Couldn't let them get past me, good thing I'm not useless with a sword." He let out a small chuckle that made him wince.

"How bad is it?"

"I can manage fine. I've had worst."

"Then get up, it's high time we leave this place." Madsen put a hand to the ground and pushed himself up with a small grunt. "We need to get back to Frank and find our way out of this city quickly. What happened tonight will bring a strong retaliation that I would rather not be here to experience."


	5. Cornered

Victoria opened the Silver Sword's door in a rush. Both Kate and Madsen followed in quickly and the hunter barricaded it shut with the Impact's help. Halfway through their walk home, an alarm had been raised and they had heard the voices of men in armor flooding the streets to look for the attackers. She supposed that someone had stumbled onto the massacre that had occurred only an hour past and reported it to whomever they could find. The group had needed to avoid multiple patrols that were running and searching every dark corner within a radius of the castle. It had been a struggle to make their way back to Frank without being spotted.

"What happened?" Frank's voice broke through the silence and Victoria turned to see him behind the bar of his inn. Nobody was in the common room, he had kicked out any residual people out in expectance of their arrival. The man's gaze ran over her bleeding hand and then shifted to the blonde figure wearing a dirty white dress. "Kate?" The blonde nodded and he looked back to Madsen who was holding his side. "I thought you couldn't be hurt?"

"I never said that, you just assumed." The Impact grunted and sat down on a chair he pulled from a table. "Get me something to patch myself up with, anything clean will work fine." Frank reached under the table and made his way over to the trio with a handful of white dishcloths. He threw the larger of the pile to Madsen and offered Victoria another.

"Vic… your hand?" Victoria looked to her left and grimaced, the slit palm was covered in dirt and small pebbles and her hand had swelled closer to her broken knuckles. Her last three fingers stuck out in odd directions.

"We ran into some trouble obviously. We rescued Kate and got out with our skins mostly intact, that's a victory in my book." Victoria tried to wrap the white cloth around her hand and let out an involuntary cry of pain when it applied pressure. The cloth fell to the ground and Kate reached down to pick it up.

"Let me." The short blonde had already bandaged up her own abdomen from the small wound given by the Prescott's lord. She took the hunter's hand and carefully set to wrap it up tightly as carefully as possible. She gasped when she saw its state. "What happened to your fingers?!" Victoria scowled.

"I'll tell you later. Frank, what do you have to tell us?" The man cleared his throat.

"I've been hearing reports from my seekers that the city's been shut down. A man dressed in fully in black with a mask is taking control of the situation. He had several messengers rush to the gates to have them shut and is making the remaining soldiers patrol for the three of you." Kate barely acknowledged the information as she concentrated on the hunter's hand but Madsen and Victoria looked up in alarm.

"What?! Anyone who's seen my face or Madsen's is dead. Kate is the only one who can be recognized." Frank shook his head.

"My source of information is one of the city guards, he relayed to my seeker a perfect description of the three of you down to the three fingered hand you sport and Madsen's green scales. The room stayed silent as the hunter processed that information. She was no longer anonymous, one of her greatest advantages as a hunter had just evaporated.

"One of them must've been hiding out. The bloody coward didn't try to engage us at all." Madsen slammed a green fist onto the wooden table to his left and it shattered in half. Frank pointed to the Impact and raised his voice.

"I'll let that one pass but you break one more of my things and I'll throw you out onto the street, Impact or not. You better believe I can." A growl sprung from between Frank's legs as his dog stared down the man he pointed to. Madsen grunted and looked away.

"They're looking everywhere for us, Bokeh means to find us quickly before we can escape. It's only a matter of time until someone remembers one of us being in this inn." Victoria gritted her teeth as Kate finished up and tied the bundle shut. Her hand was fully hidden in the cloth, the pain was still there but manageable.

"It's the best I can do right now, I know a lot about healing but without herbs and salves available…" Kate bit her lip in thought. "We could try and go to the church to get my satchel. I could tend to your wounds better if I had it with me."

"Out of the question!" Madsen whipped his head back and stood to join the group.

"He's right Kate, that's the very first place they'll look. I'll make do with one hand as best I can. Madsen, can…" She cut off as the door slammed open to give way to two executioners who were followed shortly by seven soldiers.

"I told you Bowers would be involved with them. Scum always seem to make their way to him." The crimson man ran forward with his sword out and managed to get to within a step of the hunter before Madsen's green arm stuck out and rammed into him. The armored man fell to the ground and the Impact followed soon after as four of the soldiers rammed into him as one to force him down far to the hunter's right. Slither pulled her dagger out with her good hand as Frank got a hold of his short swords. Kate backed up behind them to keep herself at a distance from the fighting. The hunter's attention moved to the two executioners that fronted the three soldiers who weren't busy fighting with the Impact. Frank lunged forward only to slide down under a swing of a sword and kick out an executioner's foot. Victoria herself took the opportunity to move in and jam her dagger into the back of a soldier's neck. The man fell to the ground and she twisted the blade to maximize the damage done. A boot came up and slammed into her ribs to take the breath from her. As she tried to scramble up and away from the crimson man's blade, Frank moved in front of her to parry a swing that would've connected with her knee. The ex-mercenary sparred with the man and neither managed to gain ground on the other as they struck out and blocked with blades.

Victoria took hold of a mug on the counter and sent it towards the second executioner who tried to join the duel. The mug crashed on the side of his helmet and the hunter leaped with her foot extended towards his middle. Her boot connected hard and she sent him reeling back a few feet. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Frank switch his handle on one of his short swords to have it facing inwards. He then ducked below a strike and heaved upwards to ram the man with his shoulder and take him hard down into the ground. Victoria moved to help and felt a wooden chair break over her back. The hunter slammed into the ground and rolled to the right just in time to miss being impaled by the crimson man's sword. She stuck out her foot and slammed it to the side of his right ankle, the man shouted and she used her broken hand to slam hard into the blade. Pain streaked up her arm and she shouted in pain but the sword skittered away under a table. She got to her feet just as the man in front of her squared himself up for a fist fight. He lunged with an extended fist but stopped himself short to slam his other fist into her stomach as she moved to the side to dodge the first hit. The breath left her lungs and she bent over forward. As he came closer, Slither managed to swing her right arm around the man's helmet and left her feet deliberately to force her weight to bring them both down. Pulled by the sudden shift, the executioner she grappled rammed head first into the wooden floor of the inn. Victoria reached over to a chair leg that had broken off and she used the sharp end to stab it down onto his exposed collarbone. The man shrieked and she plunged the chair leg four more times into his wound with adrenaline fueled strength. The man finally stopped screaming in pain and Slither looked up just in time to see Madsen ram his fist straight into a soldier's helmet. The man's yell cut short as his head emitted a loud _crunch_. The follow through forced the Impact's fist to break through the inn's wall and the soldier's head ripped off its neck by the sheer strength of the hit. Blood spurted onto the Impact and the headless body slid down the wall to rest sitting at ground level. Both the Impact and Victoria looked to Frank who was standing up slowly. His short swords were embedded in the crimson executioner's body that laid near the bar. One stuck out from his stomach and one from his eye slit, blood pooled itself under the ex-mercenary's boots.

A loud shriek made all heads turn to Kate and Victoria's eyes widened as she saw two soldiers cornering the small blonde at the other end of the room. Before she could run down the many paces required to reach her friend, a strong bark filled the room as Frank's dog seemingly appeared out of nowhere to land on one of the soldiers back. A very loud growl sprung from the animal's jaws as it clamped down on the fallen man's armored shoulder and ripped his arm clean off. The second soldier yelled out in surprise and tried to swing his sword down but the dog leaped into his chest and closed his fangs around the front of his helmet. Victoria's mouth dropped open and she inhaled sharply in shock as the dog's mouth managed to rip right through the helmet. The dog landed on its feet and spit out a large chunk of metal, bone and flesh that had been the soldier's face mere seconds ago. Madsen stood in complete shock and only Frank and Victoria made to move towards Kate who stood behind the red eyed canine. The hunter was much closer but she stopped a few paces short of her friend as she noticed the dog's crazed look. Pompidou's muscles ripple under his ruffled fur and he looked to be twice the size he had been before the fight. The dog now reached up to her stomach in height and his paws were almost the size of her palm, his brown fur turned crimson red at its very end which made him look like a beast straight out of hell itself. The dog bared his bloody teeth towards her while growling menacingly all the while advancing like he had found new prey.

"STOP! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Frank's terrified shout made Victoria panic even more. "He can't tell the difference between friend and foe when he's enraged! Only I can…" Frank stopped with a horrified expression with his hand still extended in the air in front of him as Kate dropped to her knees and embraced the huge dog from behind.

"Thank you!" The blonde buried her face into the dog's brown and red fur near his neck. "You saved me…" The dog turned his head and stopped growling as he started to lick the woman's face. Victoria didn't know what to think, her eyes felt like they were popping out of her socket and Frank looked absolutely bewildered. When Victoria made to move towards the pair once more, the dog's ears twitched and he turned quickly to bare his teeth once more. Kate started to ruffle Pompidou's head and she whispered in his ear. "Calm down… It's okay… We're all good now…" Slowly the dog's red irises gave way to brown and his fur returned to its natural shade. Victoria watched in awe as the dog seemed to shrink very slowly back to a more normal size.

"How?" Frank's voice was barely above a whisper as he looked towards Kate and his dog.

"Frank, what the bloody hell was that? What the hell is that thing?" The hunter hadn't noticed Madsen walking up to them and she turned to see him looking at the dog with evident caution. Frank snapped back to attention and he looked over the floor of his inn. The Silver Sword was trashed beyond belief. Corpses littered the floor and blood almost fully covered the first half of the common room. The chairs and tables were almost all tipped over or broken and an insane amount of damage had been done to the floor and walls. The hunter noticed it was especially bad in the corner where the soldiers had taken down Madsen. The light from the oil lamps shone into the street outside through the various holes made when the Impact's fists had connected with the walls. The bar itself was mostly intact except for the corner where Frank had been fighting his executioner. That side was filled with long gashes from the swords and broken glass shards from shattered mugs that glistened in the crimson pool at its base. Frank swallowed hard and he sat on one of the few chairs that still stood. Pompidou extracted himself from Kate and came to rest his muzzle on his owner's legs.

"I've lost everything I worked for."

"Frank…" The man started to pet the dog on the head as he looked up to the large silver broadsword hanging above the bar to the right.

"They'll know I helped you. I can't stay here any longer." The man got up and stood back up, he moved to the body of the man he had killed and removed his short swords from the corpse. Blood dripped from the metal's point and Frank wiped it down with a dirty rag on the bar's counter. He breathed in loudly and looked back to Victoria. "I'm coming with you. They destroyed my inn and ruined my city. I'll help the lot of you take them down." The hunter moved closer and offered her right hand to the ex-mercenary. Frank shook it with a hard calloused grip.

"Let's go then."

* * *

Victoria and Kate both rode on the back of Chloe's black warhorse aptly named Shadow as they plodded along towards the closest city wall. Frank had collected whatever belongings he deemed necessary and loaded up the mount's pack saddle. That had consisted of only food, supplies and his entire stash of gold coins. The man had also changed clothes into his old hardened leather armor that was stained red in a decorative fashion. A bloody handprint stood on his right shoulder to represent his old mercenary troop and he wore his dual short swords at his hips inside well-worn sheathes. Pompidou followed his master who rode next to Madsen, they both had opted to take the last two horses in Frank's stable rather than walk. The morning sky shone overhead but it was still early enough that most of the city had yet to awaken. That suited the hunter just fine, she hoped they wouldn't run into anybody. _"It's too dangerous with all these rooftops. With my hand being broken, we lost the only ranged weapon we had."_ The hunter shrugged uncomfortably as she perused the numerous buildings they passed. It would only take one man with a bow in a good position to take them all out. Frank, Kate and herself couldn't fight back appropriately at a distance and Madsen could only shift to protect himself and run. Victoria looked over her shoulder at the pillar of black smoke that rose high over the city. Frank had stated that nobody would get to take what was his and he had torched the stable next to the inn. The building had taken fire soon after and they all had ridden away towards the wall on the west side. They needed to reach the forest, from there they could camp out in peace and make their way towards Draqt and finally Frauy.

"We're almost there." Frank's words broke the hunter from her reverie and she felt Kate stiffen behind her. They were all on edge and the chirping of the few birds around was only making the hunter more irritated.

"Just bring me to the wall and I'll tear it down for us." Madsen peered over his shoulder to look behind him, his skin had a slight shade of green and the hunter suspected that he was on the verge of shifting at first sight of a fight.

"What if we don't make it? I can't go back into their hands… I'd rather die than be under his knives again…" Kate whispered at the hunter and Victoria reached behind her to put her hand over her friend's knee in a calming gesture.

"You'll make it Kate, I promise you that. And if worst comes to worst… I'll make sure you don't make it into their hands alive." The last was said with strain but Kate seemed to take comfort in the words.

"Thank y…"

"We're being trailed." Frank spoke up but remained steady on his horse.

"What?" Madsen's skin turned a darker shade of green but he didn't shift all the way. He avoided looking to the ex-mercenary as he spoke. "From where?"

"There's a figure dressed in black that's been jumping from rooftop to rooftop far to our right and looking over to us. I think he might be waiting for backup before engaging us. We need to get out of his sights without raising suspicion, if it looks like we know he's here then all hell will break loose."

"We could break for the wall. I can make an opening big enough for the horses in ten seconds give or take." Frank shook his head.

"The moment we go for the wall, he'll shoot our horses from under us and then even if we somehow manage our way past safely it won't matter. It's simple tactics when you have numbers on an enemy. First you incapacitate their way of escape and then you run them down until they fall."

"And anyways, not all of us have impenetrable armor. Ten seconds is more than enough for any skilled archer to shoot a couple arrows at that distance." Victoria talked softly and tried to stealthily catch the stalker in the corner of her eye.

"Not arrows…" Kate's voice shook with fright as she spoke. "Bolts. Bokeh is the one following us." Victoria felt her blood run cold. _"So close… We were so bloody close."_

"What do we do?" Madsen asked the question the hunter dreaded.

"If we split up then we could heighten the chances of two of us surviving."

"No." Kate replied instantly to the hunter's words. "We aren't doing this. We aren't going to split up and have half of us die at best. We either die together or survive together. I won't have it any other way."

"I agree with her." Madsen ran his hand over his hair. "I've outlived enough allies for a lifetime and I will not be the lone survivor once more. I'll go down fighting with the rest of you if it comes to it."

"Looks like you'll get your wish Madsen. I can hear soldiers running a few streets over. LET'S GO!" Frank kicked his horse into motion and took off towards the west wall. Victoria and Madsen both charged after him and to her surprise, despite the black warhorse's heavy packsaddle, Shadow was gaining ground on the man ahead. Frank almost managed to reach the cover of a large strip of shops up ahead before his horse took a black bolt to the neck and collapsed to the ground at full speed.

"Shit!" Victoria barely had the time to her mount avoid the fallen pair but thankfully the horse moved deftly to the side to avoid running head first into the fallen man. Frank stood up holding his arm and Victoria grimaced as she looked back quickly to see the bone protruding from the elbow. Madsen shifted to his other form and took a hold of Frank as he passed to drag him the few paces required to reach safety. Victoria could hear the horse scream and thrash on the ground behind her. There was nothing she could do for the animal, it was as good as dead. Soldiers flooded the street up ahead and she glimpsed shining metal from the ones on horses as arrows were leveled towards them.

"GET DOWN!" Victoria lunged off the warhorse and rolled on the ground to the left to soften her fall. Her left arm throbbed as hit the ground and she turned just in time to catch Kate who had jumped after her. The short blonde crashed into the hunter and they both fell backwards into a small alley out of the line of fire just as a half dozen arrows pin cushioned the horse Madsen and Frank were on. Shadow took a couple arrows to the shoulders but did not slow his pace as the beast rammed hard into the crowd of soldiers ahead. The two armored men at the forefront were slammed to the ground and put out of commission as they took two thousand pounds of force straight into their upper bodies. The warhorse reared and slammed down its front hooves into another soldier whose arm snapped in half when he tried to shield himself with it. Victoria ran on ahead with her three companions following as and they all started the battle.

Victoria paid special attention to the weakest fighter amongst them as she sliced her dagger across a soldier's neck who was about to swing his sword into Kate. Madsen seemed to have the same idea as the hunter and he blocked any swords that came close to the woman with his body. The Impact crashed his scaled fists into a man who got too close and the _crunch_ of metal and flesh were followed by another soldier's scream as Madsen took a hold his arm and squeezed. The arm's bones snapped and the flesh came out from between the Impact's fingers as if put through a meat grinder. Slither assessed that Madsen could protect Kate just fine and she moved closer to where Frank was being cornered. Pompidou leaped onto a soldier and closed his fangs around the man's leg before shaking his mouth violently. The man's bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air as his leg was ripped free of his body. Victoria leaned her shoulder into a soldier and crashed into him from behind, sending him head first into the brick wall next to Frank. The ex-mercenary took the opportunity to shove his short sword upwards with one hand straight through the soldier's chin. Victoria placed her back to Frank, both could only use one hand and they fought in tandem against the soldiers to protect the other's weak side from their enemy. Slither saw Madsen throw another soldier into another as Kate ran her short sword through the side of another who was about to cut down Pompidou. Victoria parried a hit with her right hand and kicked a soldier in the groin, as he fell to the ground Frank delivered the killing in one swift motion that slit the man's neck deeply. The hunter was suddenly pushed forward and she felt a sword slide against the skin on her left side. She screamed out pain but it was cut short as she felt a gauntlet connect with the side of her face. When she hit the ground she heard Frank being taken down by two soldiers. The man cursed loudly as they slammed him back first into the brick building. The first kneed him and the second speared him in the chest with his short sword. Victoria tried to stand but felt a boot connect with her back that sent her sprawling forward. Her face burned as it grinded against the hard surface of the street and she turned before she could be hit again. Dodging a blow to the hip, the hunter swerved and connected her own blade with a soldier's abdomen. She applied enough strength to pierce straight through and bury the dagger up to the hilt. She saw motion far away, Bokeh was standing up and aligning his crossbow's sights on Kate from a rooftop about a hundred yards away.

"He's up on the roof! Watch o…" A soldier shouldered her and swung down in one motion, Slither barely avoided having a major artery sliced open as her leg was cut deeply by the man's sword. Madsen's head whipped upwards and he moved in front of Kate to block the incoming projectile with his armored body. The black bolt rammed into his shoulder and burrowed itself deeply into his scaled skin. The Impact yelled out in pain and was knocked down from behind by three soldiers. Victoria tried to stumble away on her injured leg but she fell to the ground when it refused to accept the pressure. The soldier who was rushing her swung down hard and Victoria tried to move away to no avail. She cried out as she felt her left hand separate from her wrist. Clutching the heavily bleeding stump, the hunter fell back and cursed as the man came upon her once more. Pompidou rammed the soldier's legs out from under him and clamped down on his side. The soldier wailed as his ribs cracked and the dog spat a large chunk of armor and skin to the side. Madsen ran over to her followed by Kate who had two long bleeding slices on the front of her dress and a deep cut above her eyebrow. The Impact grabbed onto her bleeding wrist and squeezed hard on it. Victoria screamed out and tears sprung from her eyes as the pain shocked her system once more. She tried to look through her blurred vision at the mangled appendage. The Impact shouted out something to Kate but Victoria couldn't make it out as she started to fade in and out of consciousness. Moments passed before an intense burning sensation right on her open wound brought her back to consciousness. The hunter whimpered as the smell of burnt flesh reached her nose.

"You'll be alright… The bleeding's stopped for now. We need to go." A large hand lifted the hunter and she felt herself being supported forward.

"She's barely conscious…"

"Take her… I'll get Bowers." Victoria felt herself being exchanged and she stumbled when she tried to stand on her own only to fall back into Kate. Her vision was foggy and she concentrated hard to clear it as she blinked. Her vision focused a bit and she looked over the Impact who was shouldering Frank. Madsen no longer sported his scaled armor, he had a black bolt stuck through his shoulder that emanated smoke. She could see his flesh boiling where it was in contact with the bolt's shaft and multiple deep lacerations layered his lower body where his leather armor had been cut open to reveal deep wounds. Frank was in far worse shape, he couldn't support himself in the least and his arm was dangling where it had been broken. The worst was the short sword that was still stuck inside his chest and stuck out from his back. The man was coughing blood and his breathing was punctured by loud wheezing. Pompidou had small cuts over his face and he trailed after his owner while whimpering softly. The group slowly made their way down into an alley with a small forge that had steel plates heating in the furnace. A hammer and various tools were scattered on the ground and the hunter supposed that the blacksmith must've left the area when the fighting began. Victoria looked around at the carnage on the street behind her.

"We can still make it, we just need to leave before Bokeh reaches us." Kate brought Victoria to Shadow and tried to make her climb into the saddle but the hunter shrugged her away, there was no way that she could muster the energy to get on top of the warhorse. Victoria exchanged glances with Madsen and Frank, both were looking back to her with hard stares. _"We can't all make it out. Someone needs to be left behind."_ Both men were hardened veterans, she knew they were both thinking the same thing she was. Victoria made her way on uneasy feet towards one of the armored brown horse that one of the soldier's had used to travel across the city. Kate looked between the three of them in confusion.

"Slither… Stop…" She turned to see Madsen supporting Frank as they approached her. Frank coughed and more blood escaped his lips and flowed over his chin as his chest started to heave. "I'll go." He looked into her eyes and Victoria averted her gaze as she nodded. The ex-mercenary looked to Pompidou and Madsen lowered him enough so that Frank could rub the dog's head affectionately. "Best friend a man could ask for." The dog whined and lay on the ground.

With Madsen's help, the injured man heaved himself weakly on the horse. Frank ran the reins tightly around his hands multiple times to avoid having to rely on his grip to stay on and he kicked the horse into motion. Victoria watched as the horse sprinted out of the alley towards the western gate. The horse's advancements were followed by the shouts of soldiers who had been coming towards them just moments ago. The hunter spotted Bokeh on a rooftop a good fifty yards away, the man covered in black was pointing at the horse and was shouting orders to his troops below who were now rushing to run Frank down. Madsen looked away and ran a good dozen paces to lay his hand on the city wall behind them. He grunted in pain and leaned hard on the brick surface as his body tried to shift. He seemed to flash between green and white until he finally fell to one knee sweating and covered in his dark green scales. Slither didn't look at him as she heard the sounds of brick being broken by the Impact's fists. Kate stood next to her and they both watched the soldiers run in the distance. A _snap_ cracked in the air and Frank's horse collapsed to the ground in a heap a second later. The hunter could only identify her friend's shape because of the numerous soldiers that were surrounding him with bows out. Frank got to his hands and knees and leaned onto the back of his ankles to get his back straight. There was shouting and voices but they were too far to make sense of. Another _snap_ filled the air and Frank's figure crumpled to the ground. Victoria felt a hand grab onto her from behind to pull her towards the hole in wall.

"We need to go." Victoria wiped her eye and tore her gaze away from the scene. Madsen lifted her onto the saddle and motioned for Kate to hurry. The short blonde pulled gently at the whimpering dog until it finally stood and followed her to the horse. Madsen waited until they all made their way through the hole and he heaved Kate up to join Victoria on Shadow's back. The Impact went back into the city and came back moments later with a second horse, he climbed onto it and slapped the warhorse in the rear to get it sprinting away in the direction of the forest. The hunter turned her head to see Madsen and Pompidou trailing after them, the dog kept up and matched Shadow pace for pace. Minutes ticked on and Victoria tore herself from her dark thoughts long enough to look back to the fading city one last time.

* * *

Night in this forest did nothing to make the hunter feel safe and she sat still against the base of a tall tree as she remembered the last time she had left Beorf. Back in a time when they had escaped the Raven Knight relatively unscathed… In a time when she had still felt invincible. Victoria looked down to the burnt stump of mangled flesh where her left hand had once been. She imagined she could still feel herself opening and closing her hand. None of the three had spoken a word since they'd entered the woods. Madsen was looking down at the opened bundle of food he had taken out the warhorse's packsaddle twenty minutes ago, it sat next to the fire untouched. Despite their hunger, food was the last thing she suspected any of them wanted right now. Kate looked down at her lap where Frank's dog had buried his muzzle and Victoria once again felt the sharp sting that accompanied thoughts of her dead friend. A few silent tears rolled down the hunter's face and she blinked hard to clear her vision. Kate got up slowly and Victoria followed her with her eyes. When she came back to the fire, the short blonde was holding onto the two short swords she had acquired the night they had broken her out of the castle. Neither the hunter or the Impact spoke a word, this was something Kate would need to do on her own. The short blonde looked down to the blades that shone in the fire's light.

"I was raised with strong principles that I never questioned." The woman's voice broke through the silence. "I had never wandered, never betrayed those beliefs." Kate tightened her grip on the blades and moved her wrists slightly, as if she was judging the unfamiliar weights. "And yet… My entire family was murdered as I stood powerless to do anything but watch." A tear fell down Kate's face as the memories replayed. "My only friends have fought while I stood behind them in fear. Maybe if I hadn't been such a liability… If I didn't require anyone's protection… Frank faced down all those men with one hand, he was injured and yet I was the one being protected!"

"Frank wouldn't have had it any other way…" Kate stared up at the hunter with anger.

"That's not the point! These beliefs have made me weak, unable to protect those I care about! You know he never even raised a hand to stop them? They broke into our home and dragged us to the city square. I watched my father try to reason and bargain for our lives at the headman's block. He pleaded for the crowds to not get involved, that fighting wasn't the right way. He refused to stand and fight." Kate breathed in with a shudder. "Well I won't stand by and watch as my friends die. I won't be a liability, a tool whose only use is as bait to have her friend's lured and murdered." Kate looked to the hunter with strength and determination that Victoria hadn't seen the woman show before. "I've made my choice."

* * *

A/N

Slither has reached its conclusion.


End file.
